BIG oops from CCL on recent cancellation email

[ugagal07]

Our Paradise NYE cruise was cancelled.  Yes, I'm bummed, but like many it isn't the first cancellation we've had this year... One big oops from this cancellation and others is the typo CCL sent out in their cancellation notice email:

 

 

In the past, and when you click the link to select your refund/FCC option, a 5 day or less sailing is $300, not $600, OBC.  I understand it's a typo, but how many won't and will demand the extra $300 OBC and how many more angry people will the call center, PVPs, and TAs have to deal with?

[LMKakaThing2]

My November 7th Paradise cruise was cancelled. You better believe I’m going to insist on the $600 obc. Not my fault they screwed up when they sent the email. Just discovered that my PVP is no longer with the company so I’m on hold waiting to talk to someone before they send out a corrected email.

 

Just checked my mom’s email and it says $300obc but yet mine says $600 🧐

 

Sent from my iPhone

 

[xDisconnections]

23 minutes ago, LMKakaThing2 said:

My November 7th Paradise cruise was cancelled. You better believe I’m going to insist on the $600 obc. Not my fault they screwed up when they sent the email. Just discovered that my PVP is no longer with the company so I’m on hold waiting to talk to someone before they send out a corrected email.

 

Just checked my mom’s email and it says $300obc but yet mine says $600 🧐

 

Sent from my iPhone

 

If you know it’s a typo, why would you insist the company honors it other than greed? It does state on the website and the cruise ticket contract that the company cannot be held responsible for typographical errors and is not required to honor them as there isn’t any DOT ruling advising such. The $300 for a short cruise is fair enough. The cruise itself had no chance.

Edited September 16, 2020 by xDisconnections

[LMKakaThing2]

If you know it’s a typo, why would you insist the company honors it other than greed? It does state on the website and the cruise ticket contract that the company cannot be held responsible for typographical errors and is not required to honor them as there isn’t any DOT ruling advising such. The $300 for a short cruise is fair enough. The cruise itself had no chance.

To rebook another 5 day cruise is triple the price for a lower cabin category from when I initially booked. I’m also not getting the drinks in the casino or any additional obc with a new booking. They’ll make more money off of me if I receive the $600 because they’ll receive the huge increase in fare. Plus, we’ll still go to the casino and gamble more than we had originally planned to spend. If they’re only willing to give me the $300 obc, I have no problem putting it towards a cruise with a different line or land vacation. Heck, I can book a 7 day cruise with some obc with another line for only $100 more of what the 5 day is going to cost.


Sent from my iPhone

[xDisconnections]

17 minutes ago, LMKakaThing2 said:

 

To rebook another 5 day cruise is triple the price for a lower cabin category from when I initially booked. I’m also not getting the drinks in the casino or any additional obc with a new booking. They’ll make more money off of me if I receive the $600 because they’ll receive the huge increase in fare. Plus, we’ll still go to the casino and gamble more than we had originally planned to spend. If they’re only willing to give me the $300 obc, I have no problem putting it towards a cruise with a different line or land vacation. Heck, I can book a 7 day cruise with some obc with another line for only $100 more of what the 5 day is going to cost.


Sent from my iPhone

 

Ah, so you’re trying to justify it because the other cruise is a bit more expensive. Gotcha. That concerns me as there isn’t anything forcing you to book it and all cruises are priced based on availability and seasonality. For all we know, with limited capacity, Carnival might even be happier to exchange your “tentative” booking with someone who doesn’t have an onboard credit incentive and also let your FCC expire... essentially capturing both forms of revenue.

 

If you’re going to the casino, that costs Carnival the actual dollar amount versus pennies on the dollar if it were alcohol.

 

Seeing how you won’t be getting the Drinks On Us offer, it looks like your original offer was reserved through the casino. Perhaps you need to reach out to their booking support to express disappointment with the new cruise not being included as a casino offer. This typo shows who appreciates the deep discounts they have been targeted for in the past through the casino department and who doesn’t appreciate them.

[BlerkOne]

Carnival has been far too generous with casino players as it is. Hopefully they won't give in. Some customers can just stay home and quarantine.

[Tapi]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Carnival, or any cruise line, honor a typo. If someone has, please post. 
 

I’ve read over the years about people who booked something that was clearly a typo, and then the cruise line either canceled the booking or corrected the error. 
 

I always remember one thread where Carnival erroneously posted some fares where the decimal point was one number over (instead of $699, the fare listed was $69 or something like that).
 

Tons of people booked before Carnival corrected the typo. But Carnival canceled all the bookings that were booked under the erroneous fare and gave people the chance to book under the correct fare. Needless to say, a lot of people cried foul, but Carnival was within the law not to honor the typo. And I doubt that they would do it now. 

[xDisconnections]

4 minutes ago, Tapi said:

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Carnival, or any cruise line, honor a typo. If someone has, please post. 
 

I’ve read over the years about people who booked something that was clearly a typo, and then the cruise line either canceled the booking or corrected the error. 
 

I always remember one thread where Carnival erroneously posted some fares where the decimal point was one number over (instead of $699, the fare listed was $69 or something like that).
 

Tons of people booked before Carnival corrected the typo. But Carnival canceled all the bookings that were booked under the erroneous fare and gave people the chance to book under the correct fare. Needless to say, a lot of people cried foul, but Carnival was within the law not to honor the typo. And I doubt that they would do it now. 

I’ve had SPG and airlines honor some pretty awesome mistake rates but never a cruise line. Princess had one in the past and it was not honored.

[Saint Greg]

2 hours ago, ugagal07 said:

 

 

 

[teknoge3k]

18 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

I'm glad I am not the only one. I've looked at it quite a bit and I don't see any typo. It says $300 for the 5 days or less...

[drvmywifecrzy]

Best thing to do with your OBC is put the whole $600 on black in roulette in the casino.  Lose and you are out nothing. Win and you drink Dom Perignon all cruise

[PhillyFan33579]

19 hours ago, Tapi said:

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Carnival, or any cruise line, honor a typo. If someone has, please post.

RCI honored people buying their deluxe drink package for $18 per day. I don’t know if it was a typo or a software issue, but the bottom line is RCI honored the ridiculous low price for people who bought it at that price. 

[Saint Greg]

1 hour ago, drvmywifecrzy said:

Best thing to do with your OBC is put the whole $600 on black in roulette in the casino.  Lose and you are out nothing. Win and you drink Dom Perignon all cruise

Or if you don’t like Don Perignon but you do like Filet Mignon, you could skip the roulette table and just book the steakhouse.  

[sanger727]

1 hour ago, teknoge3k said:

 

I'm glad I am not the only one. I've looked at it quite a bit and I don't see any typo. It says $300 for the 5 days or less...

Ok, I thought I was going insane for a minute. I am also very confused by this alleged typo.

[Rob-Bob]

 

I see $300 also.  Where is the typo?  Please explain.

[bingomamma19]

On 9/16/2020 at 8:40 AM, ugagal07 said:

Our Paradise NYE cruise was cancelled.  Yes, I'm bummed, but like many it isn't the first cancellation we've had this year... One big oops from this cancellation and others is the typo CCL sent out in their cancellation notice email:

 

 

In the past, and when you click the link to select your refund/FCC option, a 5 day or less sailing is $300, not $600, OBC.  I understand it's a typo, but how many won't and will demand the extra $300 OBC and how many more angry people will the call center, PVPs, and TAs have to deal with?

This link clearly shows 300 for obc.    

 

And to go by your thinking...if you paid your electric bill that was supposed to be 200, but you wrote the check for $2000...the electric company can just say...oh well..you made a mistake too bad?

[dbrucern]

Ours cancelled too and it was an Elite Cruise which meant gone my free shore excursion, free pick up at the airport and free cheers package. 

[magictam]

On 9/16/2020 at 8:12 AM, LMKakaThing2 said:

My November 7th Paradise cruise was cancelled. You better believe I’m going to insist on the $600 obc. Not my fault they screwed up when they sent the email. Just discovered that my PVP is no longer with the company so I’m on hold waiting to talk to someone before they send out a corrected email.

 

Just checked my mom’s email and it says $300obc but yet mine says $600 🧐

 

Sent from my iPhone

 

Well I’m curious did you get it?  And if not what did you decide to do? 
if they cancel my cruise I will take the refund. It’s like you said, The credit normally barely covers the higher Priced New itinerary. So I think the better deal is just to take your refund and a place it where you get the best value for your dollars. 

[Tapi]

 

3 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

RCI honored people buying their deluxe drink package for $18 per day. I don’t know if it was a typo or a software issue, but the bottom line is RCI honored the ridiculous low price for people who bought it at that price. 

Thanks. That’s a good one!

 

I wonder if Royal did that out of good will, or if they were required to honor the typo. 

Edited September 17, 2020 by Tapi

[xDisconnections]

18 minutes ago, Tapi said:

 

Thanks. That’s a good one!

 

I wonder if Royal did that out of good will, or if they were required to honor the typo. 

Royal wasn’t planning on honoring it and specifically said they would not. They later changed their mind due to backlash. 
 

In the end, most people couldn’t use it anyway because of Covid. Forgot all about that one.

[xDisconnections]

42 minutes ago, fyree39 said:

It's called Truth in Advertising and if the company doesn't catch it, they have to honor the price advertised. It's a law. Remember Nader's Raiders?

Ehh, quick search:

 

Also, these aren’t American companies.

 

The Federal Trade Commission mandates that all advertising in the United States be "truthful and non-deceptive." Deceptive advertising is defined as containing an inaccurate statement or omitting information that may affect a customer's buying decision. However, misprints in advertising occur from time to time due to human error on the part of the advertiser or the publication.

 

Rectifying the Error

 

The FTC makes it clear that in the case of an honest mistake in an ad, stores are not responsible for honoring the claim. Typos happen and customers need to be understanding in those circumstances. The store is responsible for notifying their customers as soon as they find out by reprinting the corrected ad, putting up signs, or in some other manner. If a store does decide to honor the mistaken ad, that is an internal customer-service decision.

[firefly333]

On 9/16/2020 at 10:14 AM, LMKakaThing2 said:

 

To rebook another 5 day cruise is triple the price for a lower cabin category from when I initially booked. I’m also not getting the drinks in the casino or any additional obc with a new booking. They’ll make more money off of me if I receive the $600 because they’ll receive the huge increase in fare. Plus, we’ll still go to the casino and gamble more than we had originally planned to spend. If they’re only willing to give me the $300 obc, I have no problem putting it towards a cruise with a different line or land vacation. Heck, I can book a 7 day cruise with some obc with another line for only $100 more of what the 5 day is going to cost.


Sent from my iPhone

 

I'm kicking myself too for not booking further out thought prices were already up, but I had a rate with a $100 obc incentive, now it's only $50 obc extra. 

 

Paying as much for a 1a on carnival as a balcony costs on rcl. Rates on carnival are definitely up. I think people rushing to book and pushing up prices because of the high obc. 

 

Prices are definitely high.

[jean87510]

5 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

RCI honored people buying their deluxe drink package for $18 per day. I don’t know if it was a typo or a software issue, but the bottom line is RCI honored the ridiculous low price for people who bought it at that price. 

Yes they did. I can vouch for that one and thank fellow cruise critic travelers who posted. I have it for 2 cruises. Hopefully I can use it.  I booked both a while ago long before this mess.

Edited September 17, 2020 by jean87510

[ugagal07]

7 hours ago, teknoge3k said:

 

I'm glad I am not the only one. I've looked at it quite a bit and I don't see any typo. It says $300 for the 5 days or less...

I have no idea why it says $300.  When I got the email from Carnival at 9:01 AM, it was $600 and I copied the chart over.  I received another email from Carnival at 11:43 AM and it was updated to $300 and my first email also said $300 now.  The typo was referenced on the main chat thread about the cancellations and addressed by John Heald on his FB page, but it has been neatly cleaned up now.  Bizarre. 

[Bgcruising]

5 hours ago, ugagal07 said:

I have no idea why it says $300.  When I got the email from Carnival at 9:01 AM, it was $600 and I copied the chart over.  I received another email from Carnival at 11:43 AM and it was updated to $300 and my first email also said $300 now.  The typo was referenced on the main chat thread about the cancellations and addressed by John Heald on his FB page, but it has been neatly cleaned up now.  Bizarre. 

 

Well at least you wont have the moral dilemma now.